Apparatus for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarp

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarp comprises a drum, a tarp, a plurality of slats wherein the tarp has a plurality of pockets. The slats are slid in the pockets through entry points situated at the ends of the pockets. The slats are mechanically fastened to the drum. At least one floating end is located at the end of the tarp distal from the drum so as to avoid any tendency of the tarp from extending underwater.

This application claims priority based on provisional application60/672,947 filed Apr. 20, 2006

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to swimming pool accessories but moreparticularly to a system for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarp.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Inventors are quite creative when it comes to developing tools forrolling tarps and many methods have been developped which mostly consistin rolling a tarp around a drum.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,809 has a hollow air filled flexible horizontalendless plastic waterproof loop that floats on top of the water in aswimming pool and is shaped to conform with the inner periphery of thepool. The loop has an open central region. A thin flat flexiblehorizontal plastic waterproof sheet is disposed across the air filledloop.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,192,025 has a thermal blanket for a swimming poolconsisting of a covering of flexible plastic sheet material to which aresecured strips of foam-backed plastic sheet material to provideflotation and reinforcement.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,251,889 shows a swimming pool cover having a sheet oftransparent, flexible, pliant plastic with an overhang of a severalinches permitting folding back all edges, a foamed plastic cylinder inthe fold around the pool periphery and a plurality of tubular clampsmaintain the folded edge around the foamed plastic cylinder.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,078 discloses a swimming pool cover for covering theentire area of a water-filled pool so as to prevent egress of silt anddebris into the pool during periods of non-use comprises awater-impervious sheet material configured to extend across the entirearea of the pool. A securing strap is attached at spaced-apart positionsnear edges of the sheet material for securing the sheet material in ataut condition to pool outer portions. A resilient attachment, such as aspring, attaches the securing strap to the anchor so as to ensure themaintenance of the taut condition. A filter is attached along and nearperipheral edges of the aperture and the filter has pore sizessufficient to be impervious to silt and debris but pervious to water.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,749 has a swimming pool cover and roll-up devicecombination comprising a flexible shaft extending intermediate of theswimming pool cover from one edge to an opposite edge, with the flexibleshaft being connected at least intermittently along its length to theswimming pool cover. A crank arm or other wind-up device is provided tobe connected at least to one end of the flexible shaft for applyingtorque to the flexible shaft. The flexible shaft and swimming pool coverare adapted to float on the surface of the water, and when it isnecessary to store the rolled-up swimming pool cover, it is removedcompletely from the swimming pool and stored remotely.

The drawback in some of the prior art is that when comes time to unrollthe tarp, it may not spread easily and evenly across the surface of thepool.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantage inherent in the known devices nowpresent in the prior art, the present invention, which will be describedsubsequently in greater detail, is to have the main advantage of havinga tarp which can be rolled as well as unrolled evenly across the surfaceof a pool.

It is a second advantage of this invention to require faster rolling andunrolling of the tarp.

To attain these ends, the present invention generally comprises a drum,a tarp, a plurality of slats wherein the tarp has a plurality ofpockets. The slats are slid in the pockets through entry points situatedat the ends of the pockets. The slats are mechanically fastened to thedrum.

In most embodiments, it is preferable, although not absolutelynecessary, to have at least one floating end located at the end of thetarp distal from the drum so as to avoid any tendency of the tarp fromextending underwater.

Preferably, the slats are rigid yet flexible so that they can be rolledalong with the tarp. These slats allow for unrolling the tarp across thesurface of a pool so as to provide for an even spread. Also, in someembodiments, the drum rolls the tarp in two direction simultaneously soas to speed up the rolling and unrolling process.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the invention in order that the detailed description thereofthat follows may be better understood, and in order that the presentcontribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additionalfeatures of the invention that will be described hereinafter and whichwill form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of theinvention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited in its application to the details of construction and to thearrangements of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein are for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception,upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basisfor the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carryingout the several purposes of the present invention. It is important,therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalentconstructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The abstract is neither intended to define theinvention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is itintended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with thevarious features of novelty which characterize the invention, arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses,reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and descriptivematter which contains illustrated preferred embodiments of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Exploded perspective view of a round tarp with its components.

FIG. 2 Perspective view of a round tarp on a swimming pool.

FIG. 3 Exploded perspective view of a rectangular tarp with itscomponents.

FIG. 4 Perspective view of a rectangular tarp on a swimming pool.

FIG. 5 a Top view of a round tarp.

FIG. 5 b-e Perspective view details of the tarp's components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An apparatus for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarp assembly(10) to be spread across the surface of a pool (11) has a drum (12)around which a tarp (14) is rolled. In the case of the embodiment ofFIGS. 1,2 and 5, the tarp (14) is round and rolled two sides at a timestarting with the widest part of the tarp (14), which is situatedproximal the drum (12) and finishing off with the narrowest part, whichis situated distally from the drum (12). This two sides simultaneousrolling/unrolling is anticipated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,749 incorporatedherein by reference. In order to provide for an even spread whenunrolling, flexible slats (16) provide the appropriate level of rigidityto the tarp (14). Floating ends (18) are located at the narrowest part,which is situated distally from the drum (12), so as to avoid anytendency of the tarp (14) to extend under the water and get wet on itstopside. The floating ends (18) are frictionally as well as adhesivelyattached to the tarp (14).

The slats (16) are frictionally inserted into pockets (20) during theassembly process through entry points (22) situated at the ends of thepockets. This operation can be accomplished by the user or it can alsobe done at the manufacturing stage. The slats (16) are mechanicallyfastened to the drum (12) by way of mechanical fasteners (13). Areinforcement sleeve (24) can be added to the part of the slats (16)mechanically fastened as per FIG. 5 e. This adds an extra thickness andprovides for a material that is more resilient than the slats (16) sothat the mechanical fastening to the drum (12) can be more durable.

FIGS. 3-4 show a rectangular embodiment of the invention having the samecomponents except that it is not rolled two sides at a time.

The slats (16) can easily be replaced since they are not permanentlybonded to the tarp (14) and simply fastened mechanically to the drum(12) the tarp (14) itself is not directly attached to the drum (12) andso, by removing all of the slats (16) from the pockets (20) of the tarp(14), the tarp (14) can be removed to be replaced by a new tarp (14) ifso required.

In operation, a user rotates the drum (12) in a fashion similar to thatof the prior art, picks up the drum (12) with the tarp (14) rolledaround it, also as is known in the art and puts it at a remote location.The reverse process is done for unrolling the tarp (14) so as to spreadit across the surface of the pool (11).

As to a further discussion of the manner of usage and operation of thepresent invention, the same should be apparent from the abovedescription. Accordingly, no further discussion relating to the mannerof usage and operation will be provided.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, toinclude variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and mannerof operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obviousto one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to thoseillustrated in the drawings and described in the specification areintended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of theinvention.

1. An apparatus for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarpcomprising: a drum, a tarp, a plurality of slats; said tarp having aplurality of pockets; said slats being slid in said pockets throughentry points situated at the ends of said pockets; said slats beingmechanically fastened to said drum.
 2. An apparatus for rolling andunrolling a swimming pool tarp as in claim 1 wherein: there is at leastone floating end located at the end of said tarp distal from said drumso as to avoid any tendency of said tarp from extending underwater. 3.An apparatus for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarp as in claim1 wherein: said slats are flexible.
 4. An apparatus for rolling andunrolling a swimming pool tarp comprising: a drum, a tarp, a pluralityof flexible slats; said tarp having a plurality of pockets; said slatsbeing slid in said pockets through entry points situated at the ends ofsaid pockets; said slats being mechanically fastened to said drum.
 5. Anapparatus for rolling and unrolling a swimming pool tarp comprising: adrum, a tarp, a plurality of flexible slats; said tarp having aplurality of pockets; said slats being slid in said pockets throughentry points situated at the ends of said pockets; said slats beingmechanically fastened to said drum; there is at least one floating endlocated at the end of said tarp distal from said drum so as to avoid anytendency of said tarp from extending underwater.